Please Help, Need Advice Asap

Client paid $300 for this cake, and you can see the issue. Top tier measures level, but obviously somehow I've cockeyed the middle tier. My DH cut the legs of the SPS to size, they were all equal. I'm guessing I somehow managed to make the cake itself lopsided, although how I managed that without seeing it is beyond my capacity.

Now I have to deliver this thing TODAY at 4pm and I don't have the time to redo the whole thing....I don't think. It took me ALL DAY yesterday.

What would you do? I don't want her to be unhappy. Would you destroy this cake and try to do it over? Or deliver it and cross your fingers?

To fix it I would have to destroy the whole cake. The belt is adhered to all 3 tiers to hold it up. Taking off those karate figures would destroy them. The only thing to survive is possibly the patches.

Oh, man, I really need this not to suck. I KNOW this woman from the dojo. What would you do?

It looks like a topsy turvey tier. It doesnt look like it sank because the fondant isnt sagging or out of place at all. The details are quite nice BTW.

I would not do it over, you dont have time. It sounds to me like you are going to have to deliver it as is. Is there no way to "shim" it. Lift ever so slightly on the low side of the cake and put a piece of fondant under that area to shim it. Then cover that "fix" with something i.e border, fondant pearls etc.

Can you possibly get a wedge in between the bottom and middle tiers? Then just give her a discount because you had to wedge it? I'm thinking if you wedge it you won't have to completely disassemble it.

I would leave it for sure - and say "I made it fun, the new topsy-turvy look!" Be excited about it instead of timid - say, "I can't wait to post this on my site, or to have a picture to show off!" Not to mention that we are all such cake "snobs" - we see things that the average person would never see, you know? : ) It looks great, seriously. And I am PICKY. Put it in the fridge to keep it from sinking or the fondant from rippling if you are worried about it... BE CONFIDENT! People read into our reactions.... : ) Great job, good luck!

As I see it, you have three options:1)deliver it as-is. 2)deliver is as is and offer a discount/refund3)fix it

I can't tell from the pic. Is it just the middle tier that is off? I am not sure how you tacked down the belt. Has it dried hard? Maybe you can slowly get it to release from the cake and set it up on top of something to let the belt dangle. Then just redo the middle tier. You would have to peel up the fondant and redo that, but if you have any cake scraps you can try to add it to the top or bottom of level it. Or turn the bottom tier upside down and cut off some of the bottom. If you know the top tier and bottom tier are fine, then maybe you can add longer supports to the one side and cover it with an extra thick border that goes all around the middle tier.

I don't know what the answer is. It just depends on how you put the find together/What you can save/how you can hide or if you even want to try. HTH.

Your top tier does appear level now. If it's level on a crooked middle tier, then it must also be crooked in the opposite direction. In other words, you can't just wedge the middle tier, because then the top tier (which is now level) will no longer be level. They must both be off in opposite directions.

I think the only way you can fix this is to un-stack your cakes, flip them over and trim the bottoms to be level if they are not. Then recheck the heights of your supports to make sure they are all the same height.

Do you use a carpenter's level or a laser level to do your cakes, or do you just eyeball it? That could be your problem.

Okay, maybe my eyes aren't seeing this right BUT the most obvious/fast fix is move the belt. Since the top tier is level - If you adjust the bottom part of the black belt you can give it the illusion of being level. You won't see all the border detail where the middle and top tier meet but it seems like a quick compromise, especially after you add the topper and no one will notice! Make sense? Of course this comes from a person who uses a high heel for a hammer....

edited cuz I noticed that you wrote the belt (fondant?) is attached to all three layers. But it would still work. Just add some more "belt" to the front - beneath the ties in front - an illusion that won't require much work.

Okay, maybe my eyes aren't seeing this right BUT the most obvious/fast fix is move the belt. Since the top tier is level - If you adjust the bottom part of the black belt you can give it the illusion of being level. You won't see all the border detail where the middle and top tier meet but it seems like a quick compromise, especially after you add the topper and no one will notice! Make sense? Of course this comes from a person who uses a high heel for a hammer....

edited cuz I noticed that you wrote the belt (fondant?) is attached to all three layers. But it would still work. Just add some more "belt" to the front - beneath the ties in front - an illusion that won't require much work.

This cake looks amazing! It really looks like you did that on purpose and that it's part of your design. If you can't fix it then honestly don't worry about it unless your client complains (but I doubt they will!)

Okay, maybe my eyes aren't seeing this right BUT the most obvious/fast fix is move the belt. Since the top tier is level - If you adjust the bottom part of the black belt you can give it the illusion of being level. You won't see all the border detail where the middle and top tier meet but it seems like a quick compromise, especially after you add the topper and no one will notice! Make sense? Of course this comes from a person who uses a high heel for a hammer....

edited cuz I noticed that you wrote the belt (fondant?) is attached to all three layers. But it would still work. Just add some more "belt" to the front - beneath the ties in front - an illusion that won't require much work.

I'll work on this in between baking and decorating the anniversary cake I forgot about for tomorrow. It's a good idea, thank you.

Thanks to all who responded. I'm starting to feel less like I want to throw up. I'll post pics of the finished product (with the topper and side items) when I deliver.

If she complains, how much do you think is appropriate to offer? $20? $40?